Article carrier



Nov. 28, 1961 E. L. ARNESON 3,010,603

ARTICLE CARRIER Filed Sept. 16, 1959 2 Sheets-Shet 1 JNV EN TOR.

L idly/12L 817285072,

Nov. 28, 1961 E. L. ARNESON ARTICLE CARRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 16, 1959 INVENTOR. [dz/472i 02285072,

.lllllllllpllll United rates i atent Stine 3,6161%3 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 3,010,603 ARTICLE CARRIER Edwin L. Arneson, Morris, 13]., assignor to Federal Paper Board Company, 111e,, Bogota, N.J., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 843,387 4 Claims. (Cl. 220-413) This invention relates to article carriers and is more particularly concerned with improvements in carriers which are formed of flexible paperboard materials and which are particularly adapted for use in connection with the marketing of bottled beverages and similar articles.

In the marketing of beverages and similar bottled goods which are conventionally supplied to the retail store in a package unit which is in the form of a cellular paperboard carn'er with a plurality of bottles, usually six in number, in the cells thereof, the bottler is at times desirous of adding to the display advertising which is ordinarily applied to the carrier, additional display material, such as, a greeting at Christmas time or during other holiday seasons, special announcements in connection with advertising or promotional campaigns or prize contests, and the like. Such special display material can, of course, be added to the regular printing on the exposed side Walls of the carrier or substituted for the display matter normally appearing thereon but this creates a problem when it is desired that the special display material no longer appear on the carrier, as at the end of the holiday season or other period, since the bottler may have a supply of the specially printed carriers on hand which cannot be used and a quantity of the filled carriers may be in the hands of the retail dealer which can be returned to the bottler only at considerable cost. It is a general object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a bottle carrier having an additional panel for receiving display material thereon which supplements the advertising or other printing ordinarily provided on the carrier walls and which may be removed from the carrier when desired so as to leave the latter with its normal appearance and thus avoid the need for discarding any carriers which remain in the hands of the bottler or retail dealer at the end of the period for which the special display space is desired.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a paperboard article carrier of the type generally employed for carrying bottled beverages which is characterized by hingedly connected upright side and end walls, a bottom wall extending between the bottom edges of the oppositely disposed side Walls, and a cell forming partition structure connecting the side and end walls which also provides a means for suspending the carrier, wherein one of the side walls is provided with a supplemental panel which projects above the normal top edge thereof for receiving thereon display matter such as advertising material or the like.

It is another object of the invention to provide a paperboard article carrier of the type which comprises upstanding peripheral side walls, a bottom connecting the lower edges of opposed side walls, and a combination handle and partition structure which permits the carrier to be suspended wherein one of the side walls is provided with an integral extension panel above the normal top edge thereof for receiving thereon advertising or other display material to supplement the display material which appears on the exterior surfaces of the walls of the carrier.

It is still another object of the invention to provide in an article carrier of the type described a supplemental display panel which is arranged to extend above a side wall of the carrier and which is separable from the carrier wall along a severance line which defines, when the panel is removed, the top edge of the side wall.

It is a further object of the invention to provide in an article carrier of the type described a supplemental display panel which is formed integral with the side wall and which is separable therefiom on a perforated or otherwise weakened line of severance located so as to provide, after the panel is removed, a side wall of normal height.

It is another object of the invention to provide in an article carrier of the type described a supplemental display panel which is integral with and extends from the upper edge of a side wall above a longitudinall extending severance line separating the same from the side wall and which has triangular bracing webs connecting the ends thereof with the top edge of the adjoining end walls, which webs are separable from the end walls along end extensions of the longitudinal severance line so that the panel and the bracing Webs may be readily torn off, leaving the carrier With its side and end walls of normal height and without any reduction in strength.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the form of the carrier which is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an article carrier in set-up, unfilled condition, which has incorporated therein the principal features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the carrier as shown in FIGURE 1 with the supplemental display panel partially removed therefrom;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the inside face of a paperboard blank cut and scored to form the carrier shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the blank shown in FIG- URE 3 following certain preliminary folding and adhesive applying operations; and

FiGURE 5 is a plan view of the completed carrier in the fiat knocked-down condition in which it is shipped and stored.

The invention is illustrated as embodied as in a carrier of the type disclosed in FIGURES l to 7 of applicants co-pending application Serial No. 678,989 filed August 19, 1957. Such carriers are characterized by opposed pairs of vertically disposed, flexible side and end walls, by an integral vertically disposed longitudinal partition and suspending member extending in a vertical plane between the end walls and parallel to the side walls, by double cross partition forming panels which are disposed in longitudinally spaced planes and connected on vertical hinge lines to the respective side Walls and to the longitudinal partition and suspending member, and by a bottom wall which is integrally connected in hinged relation along its side edges to the bottom edges of the side walls and serves to support the articles disposed therein. In this type of carrier, which is generally referred to as a full depth carrier, the exposed outer faces of the side and end walls are customarily printed to achieve various dec- 7 orative effects and to advertise the nature of the goods which fill the same, with some printing generally appearing on the handle forming portion of the longitudinal partition which extends above the top margins of the side walls. The present invention is designed to add to the conventional carrier structure an additional panel on which supplemental printing may be arranged with the panel being formed so that it may be readily discarded when desired.

Referring to the drawings, the illustrated form of the carrier is fabricated from a generally rectangular paperboard blank 10 which is cut and creased as shown in FIGURE 3. Since the blank 10 is to a considerable extent symmetric about a medial horizontal crease line ll of a bottom center section 12, corresponding parts in the same relationship on opposite sides of the crease line 11 are indicated by like reference numerals and only one set thereof will be described.

The bottom forming center section 12 is defined by parallel longitudinally extending crease lines 13 which are equally spaced on opposite sides of the medial crease line 11 and longitudinally spaced transverse crease lines 14 and 15 which extend between corresponding ends of crease lines 13. The medial crease line 11 divides the bottom forming section 12 into two equal panels 16 while the longitudinal crease lines 13 separate the same from adjoining side wall panels 17 and form, in the erected carrier, the bottom edge hinge lines between the bottom panels 16 and the side wall panels 17. Longitudinally spaced transversely extending crease lines 18 and 19 define the end edges of each side wall panel 17 and form a vertical hinge connection with end wall forming panels 24) and 21, respectively, which extend at opposite ends of the side wall panel 17.

At one end of the blank a longitudinal partition panel 22 adjoins the end wall panel 20 and is separated therefrom by a transverse crease line 23. A cross partition panel 24 adjoins the longitudinal partition panel 22 and is separated therefrom by a transverse crease line 25. The cross partition panel 24 carries a glue flap 26 which is separated therefrom by a transverse crease line 27. The glue flaps 26 may take slightly different form as shown in FIGURE 3. The longitudinal partition panel 22 is provided on its inner edge with a notched bottom locking lug or hook formation 23' and on its opposite outer edge has an extension section 29 for a purpose which will be described. The transverse crease lines 18, 23, 2S and 27 are longitudinally spaced a distance equal to the longitudinal spacing between the cells of the erected carrier. 7

At the other end of the blank a longitudinal partition panel 30 adjoins the end wall panel 21 and is separated therefrom by a transverse crease line 31. A cross partition panel 32 adjoins the longitudinal partition panel 30 and is separated therefrom by a transverse crease line 33. The cross partition panel 32 carries the glue flap 34 which is separated therefrom and bendable about a transverse crease line 35. The transverse crease lines 19, 31, 33 and 35 arelongitudinally spaced a distance equal to the longitudinal spacing between the cells of the erected carrier. The longitudinal partition panel 30 has a handle forming extension 36 along its outer edge which projects longitudinally in the direction of the end of the blank. The panel extension 36 is separated from the cross partition panel 32 by the longitudinal cutting line 37 and is foldable with the panel 30 about the transverse crease line 31. The two handle extension panels 36 are of different widths with the narrower one terminating short of the end of the blank and the wider one terminating at the end edge 38 of the blank and the latter having a died out hand hole 39. 7

An outer handle reinforcing and cover forming panel section 49 extends along the outer edge of the side wall and end wall panels 17 and 21 at one side of the blank 7 which isadapted to be hinged about the outer end sec- 7 separated from the remainder of the blank along the cutting line 48 which frees the same from the end wall 7 panel 21 and has two short breakable or perforated connections at 49 and 49 with the outer edge of the side wall forming panel '17 which connections are broken when the carrier is set up for use.

- The panel section 40 is provided with a reinforcing ex tension panel 5% which is separated by the transverse score line 51 from the panel 43 and which is in turn provided with a small flap 52 extending along the outeredge thereof and out free of the panels 42 and 43 at 53 so as to be foldable about the score line 54. The wider handle panel 36 is also provided with a reinforcing extension panel 55 along its outer edge which is separated therefrom by the score line 56 and which is freed from the handle covering panel 42 by the cut slot 57. The two handle reinforcing panels 58 and 55 are cut at 58 and 59 to match the hand hole slots in the panels 36, 42 and 43.

A longitudinal center partition reinforcing and bottle separating panel 66 is cut out of the center portion of the blank between the longitudinal and cross partition forming panels 21 and 3% at one end of the blank. The panel 60 is cut so that at one side of the blank it is freed from the blank except for the longitudinal crease line 61 about which it is adapted to be hinged and which connects it with the bottom forming edge of the longitudinal partition panel 30 at that side of the blank, the crease line 61 being offset slightly in the direction of the side edge of the blank relative to the longitudinally extending bottom side edge crease line 13 between the bottom and side wall forming panels 16 and 17. The panel 60 is separated from the end wall 30 and longitudinal partition panel 32 at the other side of the blank by the line 62 which is partly perforated and partly cut through so that in setting up the carrier the panel 69 may be broken loose along the line 62 and entirely freed from these panels. The inner end of the panel 60 is cut on the transverse line 63 which frees the panel from the center portion of the blank, the cutting line 63 being offset slightly from the transverse crease line 31 in the direction toward the end of the blank.

Two bottom reinforcing flap forming panels 64 and 65 are cut from the center portion of the blank at the ends of the bottom Wall forming section 12, being separated from the latter by the transverse crease lines 14 and 15 which define the end edges of the bottom section 12. The longer bottom reinforcing panel 64 extends between the two pairs of integral longitudinal partition panels 20 and 22, being separated therefrom on the longitudinal cutting lines 66 which are parallel and laterally offset from the bottom side edge forming crease lines 13 in the direction of the side edges of the blank. The reinforcing panel 64 is creased on parallel laterally spaced longitudinally extending crease lines 67 which are offset inwardly of the longitudinally extending crease lines 13. The crease lines 67 and the cutting lines 66 define side reinforcing flapsor flanges 68 which are free to hinge about the crease lines 67 when the reinforcing panel 64 is folded inwardly onto the inner face of the bottom wall section 12 about the transverse crease line 14. -A 6611- ter medial crease line 11' which constitute an extension of crease line 11 bisects the reinforcing panel 64 and divides the same into two equal sections, each of which has a width substantially less than the adjoining bottom wall forming panel 16 to which it is hinged. At the other end of the bottom wall section 12 the smaller bottom reinforcing panel 65 is formed in .a similar manner between the two end wall forming panels 21, being separated therefrom by the cutting lines 68, and being separated from the longitudinal partition reinforcing panel 60 by the transverse cutting line 63. The reinforcing panel 65 is also provided with longitudinally extending crease lines 69 which are parallel'with and spaced inwardly relative to the longitudinal crease lines 13, being aligned with crease lines 67. The cutting lines 68 and the crease lines 69 define side reinforcing flaps or flanges 70 which are aligned with V the flanges 68 at the opposite side or end of the bottom end wall section 12. The medial crease line 11 is also extended at 11' into this panel 65 to divide the same into equal panel sections each of which is of less width than the bottom wall panel 16 to which it is hinged.

. At the side of the blank opposite the handlecover and reinforcing section 40 the display panel 71 is provided which extends from and is integral with the side wall panel 17 being separated therefrom by a severance line 72 which may be a perforation line, a part perforated, part slit line, or the like. The display panel 71 is relatively narrow and is connected at its ends by triangular shaped webs 73 with the end wall panels 20 and 21. Each of the webs 73 is separated from the panel 71 by a crease line 74 and from the respective end walls 20 and 21 by perforation or severance lines 75. The severance lines 72 and 75 being of such a character as to normally remain unbroken but permitting the panel 71 and the webs 73 to be readily separated by tearing them from the panels 17, 20 and 21.

The blank 10, when cut and creased, is glued and folded to provide the carrier which i illustrated in FIG- URE 1. The cross partition panels 24 are folded inwardly about the crease lines 25 and the glue flaps 34 are folded inwardly about the crease lines 35. An adhesive is applied to the upwardly facing surfaces of the glue flaps 26 and 34 and to the handle forming portion of the one longitudinal partition panel 36, the handle reinforcing panel 59, the hand hole flap 46, and the handle forming extension 29 of the one panel 22, as indicated in FIGURE 3. An adhesive is also applied to the downwardly acing surfaces of the handle reinforcing members 52 and 55. The bottom reinforcing panels 64 and 65 are folded inwardly about the crease lines 14 and 15 respectively, the longitudinal partition and end wall sections of the blank at each of the four corners thereof are folded inwardly about the crease lines 18 and 31, and the handle reinforcing members 52 and 55 are folded about the crease lines 54 and '56 as shown in FIGURE 4, the hand hole flap 45 being folded over the reinforcing member 55. An adhesive is then applied to the longitudinal partition panels 30, the handle panels 36, the one longitudinal partition panel 22 and the handle cover panel 42 after which the panel 60 is broken loose along the line 62 and folded about the crease line 61 to bring it into engagement with the previously folded longitudinal and cross partition panels, the partially folded blank is folded about the medial line 11 and the outer handle panel 42 is folded about the crease line 41 providing the carrier, in collapsed condition, as shown in FIGURE 5.

The carrier is supplied to the bottler or the user in the knocked down collapsed condition shown in FIGURE 5 with the display panel 71 having the desired display material printed or otherwise applied to the outer face thereof so that the carrier, when set up, ha the normal display material or printing on the side wall 17 and additional printing or display material on the panel 71 above the same. When the period of use for the display material is reached and the bottler has a supply of the carriers with the display panel 71 thereon he is able to convert the carrier to its normal appearance by merely pulling or tearing ed the panel 71 and its supporting web portions 73 leaving the carrier without any appreciable evidence of anything having been removed from the same. The panel 71 may be torn ofi while the carriers are in collapsed condition as shown in FIGURE 5 or when the carrier is set up and in either loaded condition or unloaded condition as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. The presence of the panel 71 may be observed readily in either condition of the carrier. Its presence or absence does not affect the strength of the carrier nor its utility.

Since the supplemental panel extends above the normal height of the carrier side wall its presence is readily observed when the carriers are filled and packed in the wooden cases in which they are ordinarily delivered to the retailer so that when the period of use of the extra panel ends any carriers returned to the bottler with the extra panel still attached can be quickly seen and disposed of without it being necessary to remove each carrier from the case for separate inspection.

While specific materials and particular details of construction have been referred to in describing the form of the carrier illustrated, it will be understood that other materials and other details of construction may be resorted to within the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In an open top article display container having oppositely disposed pairs of spaced upright side walls and a connecting bottom wall supporting the container contents, a supplemental panel integral with one of said side walls and extending a substantial distance above the normal top edge of said side wall for receiving supplemental display material thereon, and bracing web members connecting said supplemental panel at its ends to the container walls which adjoin the side wall to which the supplemental panel is connected, said supplemental panel and said bracing webs being separable from the respective side walls to which they are connected by weakened lines of severance permitting the same to be readily separated from said side walls and removed from said container, and said severance lines coinciding with the normal top edges of the side walls whereby the carrier has its normal appearance when the extension panel and the bracing webs are discarded.

2. An article carrier formed of paperboard sheet material which is cut and creased to provide, when set up, oppositely disposed pairs of spaced upright side and end walls, a connecting bottom wall, and a partition forming structure which connects the side and end walls so as to divide the space between the same into a plurality of upwardly opening article receiving cells, said partition forming structure having an upwardly extending portion providing a handle forming member, one of said side walls having an extension panel projecting a substantial distance above the normal top edge of said side wall, which extension panel is adapted to receive supplemental display material thereon, said extension panel having its ends connected to the adjacent end walls by web forming members, said extension panel and said web forming members being separated from the respective side and end walls by weakened lines of severance permitting ready removal of said panel and web members by tearing along said severance lines, and said severance lines coinciding with the normal top edge of said side and end walls whereby the carrier is restored to its normal appearance when said extension panel and said web forming members are removed.

3. In an article carrier having oppositely disposed pairs of spaced upright side and end walls and a connecting bottom wall, a supplemental display panel integral with one of said side walls and extending a substantial distance above the normal top edge of said side wall in the plane thereof for receiving supplemental display material thereon, said supplemental panel having its ends extended and secured to the adjacent portions of the end walls, said supplemental panel being divided from the side wall by a tearing line which coincides with the normal top edge of the side wall whereby said supplemental panel may be readily separated for removal from the carrier along said tearing line and discarded so as to leave the carrier with its normal appearance.

4. In an article carrier formed of paperboard sheet material which is cut and creased to provide, when set up, an upwardly opening compartment having oppositely disposed pairs of spaced upright side and end walls with the side walls having top edges normally of the same height, a cross partition and longitudinal partition and handle forming structure which connects said side and end walls so as to divide the compartment forming space between the same into a plurality of upwardly opening article receiving cells and which provides an upwardly extending handle forming member projecting above the normal top edges of the side walls, and a bottom wall hinged along its side edges to the bottom edges of the side walls, one of the side walls having an integral extension panel along its top edge which projects a substantial distance above the normal height of said one side wall and lies in the plane of said one side wall so as to form a free standing vertical display member providing additional space for receiving advertising material which supplements the material appearing on said one side Wall, bracing means for holding said extension panel in upright position, and a line of perforations separating said extension panel from said one side Wall so as to permit the extension panel and its bracing means to be readily torn 01f and removed from the carrier, said severance line extending along and coinciding With the normal top edge of said one side wall whereby removal of said extension panel leaves said side wall and said carrier with a normal appearance.

References fired in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Elliott Nov. 3, 1914 Guyer Nov. 1, 1938 Ringler Dec. 14, 1954 Bergstein May 31, 1955 Ringler Jan. 21, 1958 Ringler Aug. 19, 1958 Forrer ]an.5,1960 

